Multitone whistle



Nov. 16, 1948.

J. THoMPpN MULTITONE WHISTLE Y Filed June 26, 1946 INVENTbR: I

JOSEPHUS THOMPSON,

, BY Y Y Patented Nov. 16, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MULTITONE WHISTLE Josephus Thompson, Covington; Ohio, assignor of ori'e t'hird to Grossman Music Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a partnership Applicationjune 26, 1946, Serial No.- 679,322

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to simple whistles and particularly to the type commonly known as police whistles.

The primary object of this invention is to construct such whistle with an improved tremolo tone producing effect.

Another object is to provide such Whistle with simple means for conveniently varying the pitch thereof, so as to produce three distinct sounds as desired.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description and claim, together with the accompanying drawing wherein like parts are referred to and indicated by like reference characters and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation o fa whistle made in accordance with this invention with parts thereof broken away to show construction thereof;

Figure 2 is a top plan View thereof with parts broken away to show construction;

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the whistle taken along the line and in direction of the arrows 3-3 of the Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a rear end view of the two matched or analogous sections which form when united, the whistle body and mouthpiece, with a section cut away to show construction; and

Figure 5 is a front end view of the whistle with parts thereof broken away to show construction.

In the drawing there is shown a whistle made in accordance with this invention and which has a body, a mouthpiece, and a simple holder integral therewith.

The body has a rounded or substantially cylindrical wall H, the top of which has an opening 23 provided with a whistle-blade I2. Straight side walls 15 close the cylindrical wall II as shown. Each of the side walls I5 has a small hole It therethrough as is clearly illustrated in the drawing. By closing one or both holes [6 with the thumb and, or first finger of one hand, when the whistle is blown, two different and distinct tones are produced respectively from the tone normally produced when both said holes are open. A shrill or high pitched tone is produced when both holes are opened. A lower tone is produced when both holes [6 are closed, and an intermediately pitched tone is produced when only one hole is open.

A small ball 9 is inside the body II and between the sides !5 as shown. The ball may be made of wood or cork and is agitated violently when the whistle is blown. It is used to produce a tremolo effect in the resulting sound. Balls of this type are common in police whistles.

The other improvement and novel feature of this new whistle resides in the embodiment of two spaced concentric facing rings 18 which are mounted on the inside surfaces of the aforestated side walls [5. The inner free edges of the concentric rings I8 form a circular track or race on which the aforestated ball 9 may roll when the whistle is blown. The ball 9 being thus guided and regularly rolled on the tracks or rings 18, evenly spaced from the side walls [5, and uniformly and regularly past the openin [3 produces a noticeably even tremolo tone effect, which efiect in ordinary whistles is fuzzy, blurred and unmusical.

The ball 9 is also thereby kept free of the two openings I8, and a clear and distinct musical tone is thereby produced when each hole I6 is opened as desired.

The mouthpiece 2! of the instant whistle is conventional in every respect. A detailed description of it is not necessary since its design and construction is already well-known. The drawing, however, illustrates the mouthpiece 21 having a channel or air duct 22 therethrough which directs a stream of air against the aforestated blade l2. The reference character 23 indicates a conventional bit piece on the free end of the mouthpiece 2|,

The holder 3| is simply a small tab molded or otherwise attached to the whistle body H and is provided with a small hole 34 for a retaining cord or chain.

It should be noted here that this whistle has a distinct advantage over prior type whistles of this type, in that it facilitates the transmission of sound signals. This whistle is designed for use by leaders of military or parading bands. Since its tone is more musical, and since it is capable of producing three distinct notes, the leader of the band may more conveniently and readily signal to the band members certain directions which he wants them to follow. The oldfashioned single toned and coarse tremolo whistle was limited to numerical signals or to signals based on their length or duration. Such signals were often confused or mistaken, and the unmusical sound distracted from the musical composition being played by the band.

In size and appearance the whistle need be no larger or different than the prior art conventional police type whistle.

Having thus described the invention in its preferred form, it should be understood that there may be other forms or modifications of the invention which may also come within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A multi-tone whistle, comprising in combination, a body member including a cylindrical sound chamber including Walls at each end thereof and parallel to each other, the said chamber having a transverse opening therein extending between the said parallel walls, the said body member also including a mouth piece integral therewith and having an air passage opening into the said transverse chamber opening, the said body member also including a blade portion integral therewith at the said transverse chamber opening and being spaced from and opposite to the said air passage opening, each of the said Walls having an an 4 said blade, either or both of the said holes being closable as desired to produce different sound pitches when the whistle is blown.

. J OSEPHUS THOMPSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,053,982 Weiss Sept. 8, 1936 2,195,992 Mausolf Apr. 2, 1940 2,214,553 Gruber Sept. 10, 1940 

